J.J. Redick scored 18 points before getting ejected in the fourth and DeAndre Jordan had 12 points and 18 rebounds, his ninth straight game with at least 15 boards. Glen Davis scored 12 points off the bench to help the Clippers get their seventh win in nine games.

Ricky Rubio had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for the Timberwolves, who were missing starters Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Martin. Minnesota went 1 for 14 in the fourth quarter.

Gary Neal had 19 points and nine rebounds, but missed a forced 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds to go that would have tied the game.

The 34-year-old Leopold, an unrestricted free agent this summer, is returning to him home state. He was acquired by the Blue Jackets on Nov. 15 from the St. Louis Blues for a fifth-round pick in 2016.

Leopold has played 13 years in the NHL for Calgary, Colorado, Florida, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, St. Louis and Columbus.

The 26-year-old Falk, who requested a trade, is a restricted free agent this summer. He was scoreless in 13 games with the Wild this season and has a goal and 16 assists in 142 NHL games. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2007 draft.

The Wild also acquired F Chris Stewart from Buffalo earlier in the day. Stewart has 11 goals and 15 assists this season. The wild gave up a second round pick for Stewart.

]]>http://www.kduz.com/2015/03/03/wild-get-a-couple-at-trade-deadline/feed/0Gopher Football has Pro Dayhttp://www.kduz.com/2015/03/03/gopher-football-has-pro-day/
http://www.kduz.com/2015/03/03/gopher-football-has-pro-day/#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:04:00 +0000joelhttp://www.kduz.com/?p=57695MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minnesota running David Cobb has been recovering from a quadriceps muscle injury that kept him out of the school’s pro day.

Cobb got hurt running the 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine in February, so he did not participate in the drills held Monday at the university in front of scouts and coaches covering 23 different teams around the league.

Cobb will have an individual workout at the school in April.

Tight end Maxx Williams also skipped the timed events because he was satisfied with his performance at the combine. There were 16 former Gophers present at pro day, along with several area small-college prospects.

Also Monday, the Gophers announced the hiring of former quarterback Adam Weber as the team’s offensive graduate assistant coach.

Dubnyk (11-2-1, 1.64 GAA, .939 SV%, 3 SO) led the NHL with 11 wins and three shutouts while starting all 14 games for the Wild (33-22-7, 73 points), who climbed from 12th place into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. He allowed two or fewer goals in 11 of his 14 appearances, including shutout victories over the Chicago Blackhawks Feb. 3 (24 SV), Colorado Avalanche Feb. 7 (18 SV) and Edmonton Oilers Feb. 20 (15 SV). Overall, Dubnyk is 24-8-3 (2.15 GAA, .926 SV%, 6 SO) in 39 appearances this season, establishing career highs in wins and shutouts while ranking in the top five in the NHL in shutouts (t-2nd), goals-against average (3rd) and save percentage (5th). The 28-year-old Regina, Sask., native has started all 20 games since his arrival in Minnesota Jan. 14, posting a 15-3-1 record with a 1.64 goals-against average, .937 save percentage and five shutouts in that span.

SECOND STAR – CAREY PRICE, G, MONTREAL CANADIENS

Price went 9-1-1 with a 1.34 goals-against average, .949 save percentage and two shutouts in 11 appearances to backstop the Canadiens (41-16-5, 87 points) to a 9-3-2 February and first place in the Eastern Conference. He yielded two or fewer goals in each of his last 10 starts of the month, highlighted by shutout wins over the Detroit Red Wings Feb. 16 (25 SV) and Toronto Maple Leafs Feb. 28 (30 SV). Price also extended his franchise-record road winning streak to 10 games, becoming the first goaltender to achieve that feat for any team since Evgeni Nabokov in 2009-10 (11-0-0 w/ SJS). The 27-year-old Anahim Lake, B.C., native has appeared in 50 games this season, leading the NHL in wins (36), goals-against average (1.88) and save percentage (.936) while sharing second in shutouts (6). Price’s 36 victories are two shy of his career high, established in 72 games in 2010-11.

THIRD STAR – ALEX OVECHKIN, LW, WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Ovechkin led the NHL in goals (10), points (t-17), power-play goals (5) and shots on goal (68) to power the Capitals (33-20-10, 76 points) to an 8-6-0 February and the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. He registered points in 10 of his 14 appearances during the month, finding the back of the net in eight of those contests. Ovechkin recorded four multi-point performances, highlighted by 2-1—3 against the St. Louis Blues Feb. 1 and 2-2—4 at the Anaheim Ducks Feb. 15. He also notched a pair of game-winning goals – in a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators Feb. 5 and in a 5-1 triumph over the Winnipeg Jets Feb. 19. The 29-year-old Moscow, Russia, native paces the NHL with 39 goals, 18 power-play goals, eight game-winning goals (tied) and 306 shots on goal in 63 outings this season. He also shares fifth in the League with 62 points, including 23-11—34 in his past 28 games.

]]>http://www.kduz.com/2015/03/02/dubnyk-named-top-star-of-the-week/feed/0Hamburger trying to make it back to majorshttp://www.kduz.com/2015/03/02/hamburger-trying-to-make-it-back-to-majors/
http://www.kduz.com/2015/03/02/hamburger-trying-to-make-it-back-to-majors/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 13:10:27 +0000joelhttp://www.kduz.com/?p=57639FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — With 61 players in spring training with the Minnesota Twins, the paths taken to major league camp are many.

Mark Hamburger’s winding journey included a month in rehab.

“I don’t believe in coincidences, so all that stuff that happened to me and even stuff that’s going to continue to happen, whatever path I take I know that it’s meant to happen,” Hamburger said. “So I just try to live in the moment and try to let things come. If you try to push for things, it doesn’t really work out as well. It’s just letting them go.”

The right-hander posted a 3.69 ERA in 70-plus innings last season, mostly with Triple-A Rochester after a promotion from Double-A New Britain. Hamburger is 28 now, well past the age of most prospects, but he has always been a late bloomer.

The 6-foot-4 Hamburger grew eight inches his senior year at Mounds View High School, a suburb about 10 miles north of Minneapolis, and didn’t turn pro until he was 20 when the Twins signed him out of their annual tryout camp.

Traded to Texas in 2008, Hamburger made his major league debut with eight innings for the Rangers in 2011. But he was left off their 40-man roster the following year and bitterly bounced around the minors, getting let go by Texas and then San Diego and Houston, too. He turned to marijuana to deal with the frustration and after a second failed test was slapped with a 50-game suspension in early 2013.

]]>http://www.kduz.com/2015/03/02/hamburger-trying-to-make-it-back-to-majors/feed/0Gopher Women fall to Iowahttp://www.kduz.com/2015/03/02/gopher-women-fall-to-iowa/
http://www.kduz.com/2015/03/02/gopher-women-fall-to-iowa/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 13:09:31 +0000joelhttp://www.kduz.com/?p=57637IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Melissa Dixon hit eight 3-pointers and scored 27 points, two other players got close to triple-doubles on Sunday and No. 17 Iowa set a record for home wins with a 92-76 win over Minnesota that also secured No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament for the Hawkeyes.

Samantha Logic had 24 points, 13 assists and 6 rebounds and Bethany Doolittle had 12 points, 12 rebounds and 9 blocks for the Hawkeyes (23-6, 14-4), who won their 16th home game, finishing unbeaten for the fifth time.

Shae Kelly had 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Golden Gophers (22-8, 11-7), who are the sixth seed in the tournament. Amanda Zahui B., who had 39 points and a Big Ten record 29 rebounds in a 93-80 win over the Hawkeyes 12 days earlier, had 22 points, 21 rebounds and seven blocks.

Dixon and Logic had 12 points at the half as Iowa took a 42-37 lead. The Hawkeyes hit 7 of 11 3s and 9 of 10 free throws in the second half

]]>http://www.kduz.com/2015/02/27/wild-take-down-nhls-best/feed/0Gophers come back for winhttp://www.kduz.com/2015/02/27/gophers-come-back-for-win/
http://www.kduz.com/2015/02/27/gophers-come-back-for-win/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 13:09:03 +0000joelhttp://www.kduz.com/?p=57555EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Carlos Morris made a tying 3-pointer while being fouled with 2.2 seconds left in regulation, and although he missed the ensuing free throw, Minnesota controlled the overtime for a 96-90 win over Michigan State on Thursday night.

The Golden Gophers (17-12, 6-10 Big Ten) snapped a 15-game losing streak at Michigan State, winning in East Lansing for the first time since 1997. They appeared to have slipped too far behind when Denzel Valentine’s two free throws put the Spartans (19-9, 10-5) ahead 77-72 with 25 seconds left in regulation.

But Joey King was fouled shooting a 3 and made all three shots, cutting the lead to two. Then Valentine made only one of two free throws, giving Minnesota a chance to tie. Morris took advantage.

Valentine led all scorers with 27 points, and Michigan State’s Travis Trice had 21 points and 10 assists.

]]>http://www.kduz.com/2015/02/27/gophers-come-back-for-win/feed/0TK back at spring traininghttp://www.kduz.com/2015/02/27/tk-back-at-spring-training/
http://www.kduz.com/2015/02/27/tk-back-at-spring-training/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 13:07:54 +0000joelhttp://www.kduz.com/?p=57553FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Former manager Tom Kelly has arrived at Minnesota Twins spring training, ready to work again as a guest instructor five months after a minor stroke.

Kelly said Thursday that he’s feeling fine, just unable yet to engage in intensive activity.

The 64-year-old managed the Twins for 15 seasons before retiring in 2001. He has continued to work for the organization as a special assistant to the general manager, focusing on infield play during spring training and providing scouting reports during the regular season.

This year, his presence will be especially valuable for first-time manager Paul Molitor, who already sought some advice from his former boss. Molitor played for Kelly with the Twins from 1996-98 and was a bench coach on his staff in 2000-01.

]]>http://www.kduz.com/2015/02/27/tk-back-at-spring-training/feed/0Judge rules in favor of Petersonhttp://www.kduz.com/2015/02/27/judge-rules-in-favor-of-peterson/
http://www.kduz.com/2015/02/27/judge-rules-in-favor-of-peterson/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 13:06:40 +0000joelhttp://www.kduz.com/?p=57551UNDATED (AP) — A federal judge has cleared the way for Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson to be reinstated.

U.S. District Judge David Doty issued his order Thursday, less than three weeks after hearing oral arguments. Doty overruled NFL arbitrator Harold Henderson’s previous denial of Peterson’s appeal.

The league suspended Peterson through at least April 15 for his involvement in a child abuse case. But Doty said in his 16-page ruling that Henderson “simply disregarded the law of the shop and in doing so failed to meet his duty under the” collective bargaining agreement.

The NFL appealed this ruling so for the time being Peterson is still effectively suspended.